Brussels mandarins have launched a major probe into Google over claims it has abused its dominant market position by penalising competitors.
In a statement, the European Commission announced it would look at the alleged lowering of unpaid search results of companies, such as price comparison sites, that compete with services offered by Google.
Additionally, it will investigate accusations the organisation lowered the quality score of pay per click services that offered functions the search engine could also provide, which could force marketers to pay a higher price to see their ads displayed.
The antitrust enquiry will also examine claims the firm imposes exclusivity conditions on its advertising partners that prevent them from placing certain types of promotions on their sites that could offer an alternative to Google.
Last month, the Information Commissioner Christopher Graham stopped short of slapping an enforcement notice on Google UK, after the company admitted it had captured highly sensitive data, such as passwords and URLs, when building its Street View service. Instead Graham said Google would be subject to an audit and must sign an undertaking to ensure data protection breaches do not occur again.
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